Continuous nail-wire



(No Model.)

T. FOWLER.

, CONTINUOUS NAIL WIRE. No. 341,413. Patented May 4, 1886.

lgz fizesses liweniar UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

'IHADDEUS FOIVLER, OF SHELTON, CONNECTICUT.

CONTINUOUS NAIL-WIRE.

fiPECIl-ICAIION forming part of Letters Patent No. 341,413, dated May 4, 1886.

Application filed January S, 1886. Serial No. 187,952. (No model.)

To aZl whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THADDEUs FOWLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Shelton, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Continuous Nail- Wire; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in continuous nail-wire, and has for its object to provide a, wire adapted to be coiled or wound upon a spool for use in a nailing-machine, and composed of a succession of nails whose points and heads are joined in regular series; and with these ends in view my invention consists in the details of construction hereinafter explained, and then recited in the claims.

In order that those skilled in the art to which my invention appertains may fully understand its construction and use, I will de' scribe the same in detail, referring by letter to the accompanying drawings, forminga part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 shows several nails made upon a wire in accordance with my improvement; Fig. 2, a nail-wire having heads swaged thereon, but without points; and Fig. 3, a partial coil of the wire shown at Fig. 1.

Similar letters denote like parts in the several figures.

In the formation of my nail-wire a continuous length of plain wire is fed through suitable heading dies, which, at predetermined distances, form the heads A by swaging up the wire. A second pair of dies compress or swage the wire to a point, B, a slender stem being left as a connection between the latter and the head of the subsequent nail. As the wire is fed forward, one pair of dies swage up the heads, and a second pair of dies form the points in close proximity to said heads and joined thereto, as above set forth; but I will not now enter into any detailed description of my complete method and apparatus for making my improved nail wire, since this is fully set forth in a certain application for Letters Patent of the United States, bearing serial number 188,331, and filed by me on the 12th day of January, 1886. The heads thus formed are flat and exceedingly strong, and the points during the operation of swaging become hardened, while atthe same time the stem which connects the points and heads is flexible and readily broken by the operation of the nail-driving mechanism, presently referred to.

In Fig. 2 I have shown heads swaged upon the wire with no points; but this construction is intended for use only when powerful driving means is employed in connection with mechanism for shearing the nails.

It will be readily understood that the nail which I produce is a perfect clout-nail with a swaged head.

Among the advantages of my invention is, that for use in hand or portable drivingmachines-such as used by lathers or boxmakers--my nailwire may be coiled or wound in a small compass by reason of the flexibility of the stems, the nails of course lying straight on the drum around which the wire is wound; also, my improved nail-wire admits of the employment in the driver of a very simple feeding mechanism, since the strong flat heads form a grasping-point for the driving device proper, and the advancement of each nail in turn draws down its successor from the coil above. The stems which connect the heads and points, while flexible to a degree sufficient to allow the wire to be coiled, are so fragile that no special cutting mechanism is necessary to detach the driven nail, since the shock of the driver and the lifting of the machine preparatory to setting the next nail answers the purpose of a cutter in detaching the nails when driven.

I am aware that series of nails and pegs connected together for purposes of feeding and driving by machine are not broadly new, and I donot therefore wish to be understood as making claim to such broad construction; but

What I do claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The hereindescribed c1ont-nail,having a swaged and flattened head and a compressed point, substantially as set forth.

2. The herein-described continuous length of clout-nails formed from Wire, each nailhaving a swaged and flattened head and a hardened point joined to the head of the subsequent nail, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in [0 presence of two witnesses.

THADDEUS FO\VLER.

Vi tn esses S: H. HUBBARD, F. EGGE. 

